The Seed Catalog Curriculum

Reviewed by Amanda Werner

This winter has been brutal for many across the United States and I for one am ready to move on to the warmer weather of spring.

As my family and I sat within the confines of our home towards the end of December and January the seed catalogs started to trickle into our mailbox and into our minds.

I usually keep two or three on hand as I put them into our scrap magazines box for use in our educational endeavors, loosely translated that means to cut out all those pretty pictures for an educational project. I let so many educational opportunities pass our family by because I limit that seed catalog to only being useful for “pretty pictures.” However, I really did not give it that much thought until I had the opportunity to get my not so dirty hands on a copy of Seed Catalog Curriculum by Carol J. Alexander.

Lots to Learn with The Seed Catalog Curriculum

Within the pages of the Seed Catalog Curriculum there are over fifty lessons plans which include the basics we as parents expect our children to understand; math, science, language arts, home economics, nature studies, and that is just the tip of the iceberg (that will soon be melting…I promise).

As a home educating parent, I was astounded by the missed opportunity that Carol J. Alexander laid out in front of me. I had the “ah ha” moment. The format was simple yet, as parents facing the critics of the world, simplicity is overlooked for fear of that perfect educational model that we should fit ourselves into.

I have fallen victim to what the world says we “should” be teaching our children instead of listening to my instinct that says, “Your child is fully capable of living, learning, and thriving on simplicity.”

The Seed Catalog Curriculum and Simplicity

Carol J. Alexander has taken simplicity and formed it into an understanding and knowledge base that home educators can physically see. Home educators can print out this 15 page booklet and have enough activities to last for the next two weeks.

The greatest blessing that comes from Carol J. Alexander is that she gives home educators the ability to open their eyes to other possibilities within their lives for “real” learning, commonly termed “life learning.”

I was thoroughly impressed with the Seed Catalog Curriculum by Carol J. Alexander, but more importantly my children ages 10, 12, and 15 enjoyed learning through the seed catalog. My children were more than happy to complete their lessons for the day. I got excited because they were excited to be learning. The questions and research they put into their days were the stuff a home educators’ dreams are made of.

I think adults forget the simplicity of life because it has gotten too complicated for even us to maneuver. However, we can all return to a bit of that simplicity of yesteryear with our children as we learn through the seed catalog.

The Seed Catalog Curriculum is available for $3.99. Author Carol J. Alexander can be found blogging at Everything Home with Carol or she can be contacted via e-mail at EverythingHomewithCarol@yahoo.com.

Learn more about Amanda Werner, and visit her at All American Family where you can find her living out her version of the American dream alongside her family. Thanks for letting us know about The Seed Catalog Curriculum.